


An Unexpected Gift

by ifthejemfitz



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: A Christmas present from me to you, Baby Fic, Christmas, Christmas Fluff, Established Relationship, F/M, Future Fic, Mentions of the team - Freeform, Perthshire Cottage, Pregnancy, Swearing, Tooth-Rotting Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-27
Updated: 2015-12-27
Packaged: 2018-05-09 16:24:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,883
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5547185
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ifthejemfitz/pseuds/ifthejemfitz
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jemma has an elaborate (and tasteful) way to surprise Fitz with news this festive period which can't wait until the big day - The incredibly soppy and seasonally appropriate story of how Jemma tells Fitz that they're expecting/a belated Christmas present to the fs fandom</p>
            </blockquote>





	An Unexpected Gift

Soft snow continued to settle on the now rolling white meadows and mountains of the surrounding Scottish countryside. The wintery scenery only helped to create a picturesque image of Christmas time, along with the peaceful tranquillity of Perthshire–   
“Fuck sake!” cried Fitz, as he continued to struggle to attach the plastic stand of the fake Christmas tree together, as once again the weight he’d put on it in order to lean over the braches almost caused the partly assembled decoration to topple over completely. “Ugh Fitz!” complained an exasperated Jemma yet again, “I told you, we’re surrounded by acres of forest. Why wouldn’t you let us buy a real one instead of going to this faff?”   
“Because I don’t want our house smelling like an over-scented car freshener that’s why.” answered Fitz, as he finally succeeded in attaching the middle rung of the tree, “And besides, my mum already had this one going spare, just sitting in the attic, so what’s the point in forking out for a new one? We’d only have to throw it out in a few weeks anyway and we’d be tiptoeing around here trying not to step on pine needles.”  
“Okay okay, you’ve made your point.” stated Jemma with a customary roll of her eyes. She really didn’t have the patience to listen to his reluctance as she realised her control over her mood swings was increasingly diminishing. An argument over a bloody Christmas tree was not on her agenda for the festive period. “But don’t you think it’s looking a little tired?” she attempted to suggest politely. Fitz had successfully attached the top of the tree and the 5ft faux pine tree now stood a little lopsided in the corner of their living room. He had noticed the slight tilt and registered Jemma’s spectacle raised eyebrows. “I’m sure it’ll look much more appealing after we’ve put some decorations on it. Why don’t you fetch the box from upstairs whilst I sort out the lights?” 

At the mention of decorations Jemma became uneasy, and quickly left the room before Fitz could pick up on her changed expression. Luckily he was too occupied, muttering curse words under his breath as he began to untangle the mess which was their string of Christmas lights. Jemma made her way up the cottage’s creaky wooden stairs and saw the cardboard box, almost overflowing with tinsel and paper chains along with other decorative trinkets, sat on the landing from where they’d pulled it out of storage earlier that weekend.   
At the sight of it a whirl of conflicting emotions made themselves present within Jemma, warming sentimentality mixed with palm-sweating and unsettling nervousness. The time she’d been planning for weeks had finally come and her confidence in it continued to waver. She walked past the box and into their shared master bedroom, where she opened her wardrobe and bent down to pick a small box which one would presume held a delicate ornament, hidden amongst her shoes and longer items of clothing. Jemma had hidden it there weeks prior as it was the best place to keep it from Fitz, knowing he’d never any reason to go snooping in her wardrobe. She sat on the edge of the bed and slowly opened the lid and peeled back the tissue paper it was wrapped in. She gently ran her finger over the delicate smooth surface of the glass bauble and a soft smile grew on her face as she reread the words engraved upon it, ‘Baby’s First Christmas’. Feelings of excitement and happiness overwhelmed her as she began to process the meaning of those words. 

This year would be Jemma and Fitz’s first Christmas in their new home, or the Scottage (a Scottish cottage) as Fitz had lovingly nicknamed it. After the conflict with Hydra had ended SHIELD began to rebuild itself as the trusted and financially supported government entity it had once been. With the vast amount of chaos and trauma Fitzsimmons had both endured over the years they agreed to leave field duty behind and defected from The Playground, or as Hunter so fondly referred to it as “ditching them for a love nest in Perthshire”. The pair still continued to consult and research for Coulson, only now from the safety and security of their own home lab, which had been custom built and resided in the basement under their home. Like Perthshire having children had once been a far off thought that Jemma rarely entertained may one day be reality, and yet like Perthshire here she was, sat on the end of her snug Queen-sized bed with the Scottish Highlands outside her window and a microscopic bundle of her and Fitz’s combined cells growing in her womb. 

She and Fitz had only briefly touched on having children, both concluding that there was a large possibility that they’d soon be in a comfortable enough stage in life to want to start trying, however it would seem that now they were thousands of miles away from the team and the stresses of life on the front line Fitzsimmons had much more time to be irresponsible together. She’d found out somewhat on her own when Fitz had attended an advanced engineering conference in London and she’d stayed at home, with Bobbi guiding her through the test-taking on the other end of the phone. Jemma hoped that Fitz would understand why he wasn’t the first to find out and why she needed a supportive older female in that situation. It unfortunately reminded her of another time when she’d confided in Bobbi before Fitz, only she was now relieved that the reveal of this secret would lead to a far happier outcome.   
Jemma had noticed the glass bauble a fortnight ago when they had visited a department store whilst on a weekend trip to visit Fitz’s mum in Glasgow. Jemma had hoped to break the news she was expecting to Fitz on Christmas Day, however even before she’d seen it she doubted whether she could last that long. She made the excuse to Fitz that she was going back to look at the perfumes and hid her newly purchased ornament in her large handbag as her mind conjured up the scenario where she would present it to him. As ever Jemma took pride in herself knowing that she excelled at preparation. 

“Jemma! Are you alright up there?” she heard Fitz shout from downstairs, his voice knocking her out of her reverie. “Yeah, I’m fine. Coming now.” she replied, wiping away the tears she’d realised had collected in the corners of her eyes, wrapping up the bauble and hiding its box under the small mountain of decorations held within the much larger cardboard box. “Here we are then, let’s start decorating.” she said with perhaps a little too much enthusiasm as she re-entered the room, her eagerness an attempt to distract Fitz from his concern at her obscenely long absence as well as quash her own returning uneasiness. “Let’s start with tinsel shall we?” she suggested as she noted that Fitz’s skilled fingers had already managed to remove the knots from the string of Christmas lights and wrap it around the tree. She was quite impressed and tried not to think of other ways in which Fitz’s fingers were skilled. A hot blush grew on her cheeks and she inwardly cursed herself to get a hold on her fluctuating emotions and wayward thoughts. If it weren’t for those fingers and well, other parts of him, she wouldn’t be in this state she huffed. “Are you okay?” Fitz asked at the sound, momentarily pausing his tree decorating out of concern. “I’m fine, just a little warm.” she said, using her best excuse to explain the newly appeared colour in her face. Fitz seemed easily convinced and the two continued to wrap sparkly tinsel and hang seasonally appropriate coloured baubles onto the branches. 

As the contents of the box diminished Fitzsimmons had hung a select number of more sentimental items onto the tree. Admittedly crap handmade decorations they’d made way back in nursery school covered in audacious amounts of glitter, and more expensive glass ornaments Jemma had received from her parents from previous years. During the enjoyable process Jemma’s mind began to wander about how next Christmas may be. How they probably won’t be able to move around their front room due to the amount of presents, and how much louder it’ll be with numerous family members present, and how much more frustration Fitz will possess as he struggles to assemble a shop-bought baby bouncer. She smiles at that last thought. “What’s that?” asked Fitz, eyeing the smaller box now laying at the bottom of the nearly empty larger one. “Oh.” exclaimed Jemma, quickly reaching in front of him to pick it up, her rehearsed lines suddenly reappearing in the forefront of her mind. “Well I made a bit of an impulse buy and really we should wait to put it up next year but I think it’s a very good time to put it up now.”  
“Jemma?” said Fitz, noting her rather peculiar behaviour and insistence as he took the box from her outstretched hand. Jemma’s heartbeat began to ring loudly in her ears as she watched Fitz remove the tissue paper and read the inscription. His eyes immediately widened and his smile disappeared as his jaw slowly dropped as he continued to stare at the bauble, too overcome with the prospect of what its words meant. He looked up at her as her gleaming smile threatened to split her face and her tears finally began to spill down her cheeks. “Are you serious?” he asked quietly and breathlessly, an expression of awe now worn on his face. She nodded too overcome with emotion to verbally reply. Fitz turned to gently place the box on the coffee table and approached with wet eyes and a heartbreakingly beautiful smile. He embraced her in a fierce hug, then lifted her up so her feet were inches off the floor and spun her round in complete and utter delight. 

She squealed and giggled with glee. “Fitz! Fitz, mind the tree!” she proclaimed. Fitz gently put her back down on the ground, lovingly caressing her face, pressing their foreheads together as he began to softly cry. “Not what you were expecting hmm?” Jemma whispered jokingly, looking into his shockingly blue eyes, her hands placed on his neck and her thumbs rubbing circles over the flesh. “Most defiantly not.” he replied softly, glancing down at her currently flat stomach and he laughed quietly at the absurdity that his child sat growing inside there. “How long have you known?”  
“Only a couple of weeks. I wanted to wait until Christmas Day to give you your surprise present but I saw the bauble and got an idea and couldn’t really wait much longer.”  
“Is that why we’re putting the Christmas tree up on the first of December?” he smiled. “Best present ever.” She could only smile in return at the statement as he leaned forward and kissed her softly and soundly. They used the movement of their lips to pour out their love for one another with as much tenderness and passion as their first kiss, as peaceful tranquillity and comfortable harmony was once again restored.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! I thought we were all deserving of an adorable pregnancy announcement and happy Fitzsimmons. Happy Holidays everyone!


End file.
